Sweet Peaches
by larkinlover
Summary: Momo's never liked her name or fallen in true love. But when she moves to Japan, she finds the precious heritage she has, the value of friendship, and love of a white-haired cutie. HinHitsu, fluffy as persian cats. Love, angst, fangirls, tears, & peaches
1. Peaches and Ditzes

Disclaimer: I don't own any Bleach characters, just any OC's that might appear. I'm not sure yet. ;)

Author Note: Nothing to do with the Shinigami, just Bleach characters in Karakura. Rated T for some language. Oh, and Toshiro's tall and has the bod of an eighteen year old here. Still has the same hot boyish face tho. Yayy!

*Note later added* This first chapter is in third person, but then I changed to first person between Toshiro and Momo in Chp.2. Then, I change to just first person with Momo. I promise it'll stay like that for the rest, but still, apologies for any confusion. =S

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Momo Hinamori breathed in deeply. She was sitting cross-legged in the middle of a wild peach tree grove, taking in the scent of the fallen blossoms. Large clusters of her namesake, peaches, grew on the trees, swollen with the sweet juices and fruit flesh still growing within the fuzzy skin. Momo smiled. She still remembered the day she asked her mother what her name meant.

"_Mama, why did you name me Momo? It's a stupid name." a six year old Momo asked in English while biting into a large peach._

_Her mother laughed. "Why, Momo, Momo means peach in Japanese. You're eating your name right now!"_

_Momo stared in horror at the peach in her hands. "I'm eating myself?!" she shrieked. She promptly threw the peach at the trash can, satisfied with the plunk sound it made as it hit the bottom. _

_Her mother laughed again. "No, sweet. You're _named_ after what you're eating, for you're as beautiful as the flower the tree brings forth and as sweet as the fruit it produces. That's why you father decided to name you Momo. He saw a peach tree outside my hospital window after you were born." _

_Momo still wasn't convinced. "Then why didn't you name me Peach? It sounds better than MO-mo to me." She emphasized her name, and made a face at the way it sounded._

_A warm, deep male voice answered. "So that you'll never forget your heritage. Japanese is a beautiful language, and you won't forget it if your name is of it."_

_Momo squealed and tackled her father around the knees as he came through the door, returning from a long day at work. _

_"Konnichiwa, akachan." said her father as he picked her up around the waist and kissed her inky black hair. Momo understood him, since both her parents demanded that she learn Japanese, even though her father was American. He also knew Japanese, for he'd met Momo's mother in Japan as an exchange student. _

"_Papa! You're home!" Momo hugged her father around the neck, and kept him in a strangle hold until he walked over to the couch and flopped down onto its cushy peach-colored surface. _

_Her mother joined the two, and the family wrestled each other for the good spots until at last her father was on the main, plush cushion, her mother was sitting on his lap, and Momo was lying across the arm rest. The happy family fell asleep that night with each other's warmth surrounding them._

Momo sighed. She still didn't like the way her name sounded, but she enjoyed the thought of being named after her favorite fruit.

She suddenly felt rather nostalgic. She was now about to turn seventeen, and her parents had decided to move from Washington to this itty-bitty town called Karakura town for her remaining school days. Her mother had grown up here, and she was sorely depressed that they hadn't come sooner.

She and her father had hoped that Momo would grow up more in touch with her heritage, but now here they were when she was about the graduate. Momo decided she was going to get the most out of her time here. She deeply missed Washington, but was extremely excited to start school here and learn where she had come from. Plus, this peach grove she'd found gave her the serenity she'd lacked in her life in America. She was happy they'd come.

"Momo!" she heard her mother call from the house. This forest was basically their backyard, since they lived on the edges of the town. Momo sighed. Serenity time over. Time to meet the neighbors her mother had been gushing about.

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Toshiro Hitsugaya was annoyed. No, he was more than annoyed. He was _angry_.

"C'mon Hitsugaya. You know you want me." cooed a blonde girl that had trapped him against an ally wall. _Seriously. I can't even walk home through allies without being ambushed anymore? _thought Toshiro bitterly. _What're these girls' problems?_

One of the girls in question, the blonde, waited expectantly for an answer. Seeing her so up close just made Toshiro dislike her even more. It was obvious that she'd dyed her previously black hair into that blinding shade of blonde, and that she spent hours upon hours everyday applying what Toshiro estimated to be three inches of make-up on her face. How could anyone even lift their eyelids with that much stuff on their eyelashes? If she'd been a bit more natural and less maniacally-obsessed over him perhaps he would've like her, but only as a friend. And currently, her proximity and attempts to seduce him were really pissing him off.

"Get _off _me, Leiko Satō. I don't like hitting girls, even if they ambush me on my way home." was his icy reply.

The ditz giggled. "Why d'you call me by my full name Toshiro? Whatever. You're cuter when you play coy."

_Toshiro?! The hell? Who gave _her_ permission to call me that? _Toshiro growled. Fine, if this girl was going to keep on going like this, she'd just be ignored like the five thousand other girls who'd tried to win him.

Leiko squeaked in surprise as Toshiro's strong arms simply lifted her up by the waist and placed her roughly to the side, and she stared after him in horror as he walked passed her. _Yes! Another one pissed off! _He thought to himself. _More quiet time for me. _"Excuse me, miss. I have to get home to meet someone, and you're in the way." he said dully as he passed. Leiko's eyes narrowed. Who was he meeting?

Leiko _was_ pissed off, but her determination also strengthened. _Why doesn't he like me?!_ she thought shallowly to herself. No matter. She'd get him some way or another. The blonde smiled evilly as Toshiro disappeared around the corner. Some way or another.

Toshiro exhaled deeply as he was liberated of that ally and of that idiot. _Now, _he thought to himself, _to meet this neighbor Mom and Ichigo's mom've been gushing about..._He sighed. It was probably just another possible bridge-club joiner that he'd have to smile politely to.

Oh how fortunate for him that he was totally, utterly, wrong.

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Teehee first fic! Please R & R! I might turn this into something big if enough people read, villains and angst and all..I'm not picky! 1 or 2 reviews is all I need to keep going. Oh, and apologies to Larxenethefirefly for stealing the fangirl idea, but I think its cute when people are jealous with Toshiro involved. :)

btw, I promise that Momo/Shiro fluff will be a main theme in this story, and just enough angst to take away any superficial feelings. Review for fluff! Cookies for first five to review. =]


	2. Lemonade and White Hair

Disclaimer: I don't own any Bleach characters, just any OC's that might appear. I'm not sure yet. ;)

Author note: I cannot _believe_ how fast people favorited this! Yah yah I sound like a writing noob but I'm a very happy, giddy noob. :]

**PLEASE READ (It's in bold. Must be important) : Aheh from now on the story will switch between Momo and Toshiro, first person. Why didn't I do this for the first chap? Cause I was stupid and now I'm too lazy to change it. Mebbe some other time. xD**

Cookies to pyscho-pyro-shrink for reviewing, and she/he gets all of them cause she caught a typo. Apologies for bad Japanese!

And Halloween Candy for Favoriting/Subscribing: pyscho-pyro-shrink, funfanfair, pinka, and sma4ever. xDD

Now, on with Chapter TWO!

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I giggled at the dress my mother had lain out for me to wear. It was probably the most hideous thing I'd ever seen: The skirt had so much frill underneath it stood up at a 90 degree angle, had countless pink bows plastered over the entire surface, black and white striped tight sleeves, and a turtle neck for the torso. Oh, and matching pink bows for my hair.

"Mama! Am I in a ballet where I'm Pippy Long Stockings that I'm not aware of?" I yelled.

Mama's shouted reply was confused. "No, Momo! Unless you signed up for it by yourself, I don't think so!"

I could barely contain my laughter at this point. Not wanting to be rude, I decided to put my poor fashion-handicapped mother down easily. "Mama, it's okay. I don't need this dress. I already picked one out when you told me about this."

Mama sounded disappointed. "Oh, alright. But next time tell me when you already have something to wear! That cute little thing on your bed looks exactly like something I saw teenage girls on TV wear!"

_What were you watching? Batman: The Joker's Daughter? _"Thanks anyway Mama!"

"You're welcome, sweet."

Shaking my head, I picked up the offending article and shoved it into an unused drawer. I then proceeded to walk over to my closet. Scanning my somewhat meager but good quality selection of clothes, I selected a sleeveless, flowing, long white shirt. The chest part was stretchy and had a pretty pattern on it, and it revealed the smooth skin above my collarbone. After the stretchy part, the midriff billowed out like a skirt, making a nice affect. I was quite please with it. I picked out a pair of short short jeans to go with the shirt, and quickly got dressed. Walking over to my sink, I took my hair out of its customary bun and let it down, clipping my bangs into some pretty barrettes Mama had given me for my birthday last year. Deciding that make-up was a bit too fancy, I admired the affect my combination had in the mirror before heading downstairs to 'make a good impression', as Mama had said.

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I arrived home a little early, just enough time to chill out a bit and get ready for this meeting, which I suspected would turn into a party. Mom had hinted that other neighbors would be there to meet the new family as well. I was fairly pleased to hear this, since it probably meant that the Kurosaki family would be there. I could escape with Ichigo if it came to that.

I was just about to doze off when suddenly a very large, soft object hit me squarely in the face.

"Wake uup Shiro! Mama says we hafta get ready to meet the new neighbors!" a high, rather annoying voice chimed.

I growled. "I wasn't even asleep, Yachiru." I glared at the pink-haired shorty. She smiled innocently and dashed off to get changed out of her uniform.

I sighed. She was right, though. There were only fifteen minutes until we headed down the road to the 'meeting', and Mom wanted me to 'make a good impression.' I rolled my eyes. I doubted that any other parent ever said that.

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I found myself strangely nervous as I prepared the drinks for the guests. And even stranger yet, Mama seemed to have put out enough mix for a large group of people. I shrugged. Perhaps our neighbors were famous for being very thirsty neighbors.

As I finished the mix, which had managed to produce about twenty gallons of punch and lemonade, I began to wash the bowl I had used to mix it, along with some other dishes to make room for the post-party dishes, since I was pretty sure this was a party at this point. And it only made me more nervous. I wanted to ease into my new life here slowly, for if I went to fast it'd be like getting into a hot tub too fast. You would get burned, you would be surprised you got burned, and then you'd wonder why you didn't just slow down enough to get used to the heat. I sighed. Life was like that.

When I was about to finish the dishes, the doorbell rang. Mama sprinted from out of nowhere, putting on a pair of silver earrings I'd given her. I liked the effect the silver had with her eyes. They seemed to sparkle with the moon-colored ornaments beside them.

As I returned to my washing, I heard voices. Listening closely, I estimated the group to be of about four people. Then, I heard the not-so-hard-to-ignore call of my mother.

"Oh, Momo! Come here and meet our new neighbors!" she trilled.

I took a dish towel with me, and headed to the door. There was a white-haired man at the door, with a white-haired wife at his side. They appeared to be quite youthful, despite their hues. And behind them, a teenage boy who had inherited the snowy hair stepped out. He stared at me, and I stared at him, dish towel still in my hands. _He's not bad looking. No, he's _very_ good looking. _I thought to myself.

Mama cleared her throat. "Ahem, well, this is my daughter, Momo. Momo, this is the Hitsugaya family. They live up the road." Mama smiled when she saw my face still staring at the boy.

Suddenly, a high voice piped up and broke me out of my reverie. "And I'm Yachiru! This is my big brother Toshiro, but he doesn't say much cause he doesn't like strangers! Say hello Toshiro!" I looked down at the very short pink-haired girl and smiled when I saw how cute she was. When her brother didn't say anything, I said something instead to fill the silence. "Hello, Yachiru. I'm Momo Hinamori, and I'll be going to Karakura High this year", was my incredibly stiff reply.

Toshiro, the boy with the white hair, snapped his head up at the sound of his name. He seemed a bit disoriented for a minute, but then regained his composure and adopted a bored, laid back demeanor.

"Hello, Momo. I'm Toshiro. I believe we're going to be attending the same school this year."

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I was confused. This was probably the first girl I'd seen before me who hadn't busted into giggles the moment she saw me. Plus, she appeared to be quite natural, what with no make up and her natural, inky black hair color still intact. Her face was almost like a fragile doll's, and her slender figure was complimented by the outfit she wore. Her large brown eyes stared for just a second, and then she politely spoke to Yachiru. _This girl's an interesting one. _

I stepped through the doorway after my father, heading over to the refreshments. Yachiru had demanded that Momo pick her up, and was now hitching a ride on the poor girl's back. But Momo didn't seem to mind. If fact, she seemed to be having fun. _Hmmm. More to ponder._ I thought to myself.

Just then, the doorbell rang again. When Momo's mother answered, the Kurosaki family stepped in. I smiled when Ichigo spotted me and headed over to the table quietly.

"Hey, Toshiro. Meet the new girl yet?" Ichigo asked me. He seemed quite bored with the goings on.

"Yeah…yeah I have. She's different." I answered.

"What's her name again? Momo?" He asked, ignored my last comment.

"Momo Hinamori. I think Momo means peach."

Ichigo laughed. "Peach? That's kinda a cute name. Wonder why she was named that?"

"Yeah, I wonder too. It's an interesting name."

"So what was her reaction to you? She bust out into giggles like everyone else? I can't believe the affect you have on girls…" Ichigo trailed off. I stayed silent, and was saved from an awkward silence as Yachiru tackled him.

"Piggy back ride! Piggy back ride!" She demanded.

Ichigo sighed and hoisted the tiny girl onto his back. I laughed inside. No one could really withstand Yachiru for long. As I watched, I began to think about Momo again. She really was quite different, and the surprise of her reaction to me still had me disoriented. I was so engrossed in my thoughts that I didn't notice Karin pulling the girl over, a frighteningly determined look in her eye.

I suddenly felt quite nervous.

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Aheh and there's chapter 2! Edits and all, after having to simply replace the entire chapter on my part. This'll be the last time you really get an inside look into Toshiro's thoughts, because I've decided to keep the mystery. R & R!


	3. Brothers and Guides

Disclaimer: I don't own any Bleach characters, just any OC's that might appear. I'm not sure yet. ;)

Chapter Three is officially up! Looking back on the last two chapters, I see that some of my edits either weren't saved or my computer's just being retarded again and not updating fast enough. Oh well. You get the general idea =P

**Another important note in bold!** Yeah, as you know, this is my first fic, and, well….IwasreadingchaptertwoandIdontlikehowyoucanhearToshirosoImmachangeitsoyoucanonlyhearMomofortherestofthestory. Maybe some from Toshiro's POV, but no more of what he's thinking. It creates mystery. =P Sorry for any confusion, though if you read this after I changed it I guess it doesn't make a difference =P

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_Five minutes earlier_

My back felt like it was about to break in two. Yachiru, the little girl from the Hitsugaya family, was currently enjoying the luxuries of a piggy back from me, and had decided that it'd be much more fun if I played a trampoline as well. I was about to give up and simply die on the floor when my life was saved as a family from down the road walked in. As I heard the father introduce the group as the Kurosaki family, a daughter about my age from the clan rushed over and grabbed Yachiru off my poor aching back just as she was in the air from a particularly powerful jump.

I smiled at my savior as she set Yachiru down to wander and mug someone else. "Konichii wa. My name's Momo Hinamori. You wouldn't believe how grateful I feel towards you for taking that little pink-haired shorty off my back." I grinned.

The girl, who was a bit taller than me and had short black hair, laughed. "Yeah, Yachiru can be a handful…my name's Karin Kurosaki. Me and my family live up the street. How're you liking Karakura town so far?" she added.

"I've only been here a few days, but so far what I see is promising."

Karin grinned mischievously. "What, the scenery or the guys?"

I fought hard to suppress a blush and succeeded, which surprised me. I usually couldn't control anything that had the chance of embarrassing me. I laughed. "I guess just the scenery. I found a peach grove yesterday that's pretty amazing…"

Karin interrupted with a snort. "Yeah, right. Don't tell me you didn't feel all nervous when you saw Toshiro over there," she pointed in his general direction "Just about any girl in Karakura who's hit puberty, maybe even some who haven't, are obsessed over him. He ignores all of them though. I don't think he's ever even had a girlfriend. I don't really see much in him, though I play soccer with him. I already have a boyfriend named Shushei Hisagi." She smiled at the last comment.

I grinned. "You're lucky. I'm almost seventeen and even though I've had a few boyfriends I still have trouble with talking to guys. And your wrong, I wasn't all nervous when I saw, what's his name? Oh, Toshiro." I said the last bit with confidence, because in reality it was true. I hadn't gotten that feeling lovesick teenagers get when they see their so called 'love of their life'.

Karin raised her eyebrows. "Is that so? Then you'd have no trouble going over and talking to him then? Toshiro needs a girl besides me to talk to that doesn't fall to pieces when she breathes his air." I was suddenly violently jerked by arm as Karin began to lead me over to Toshiro, who was talking to a guy with a head of orange hair.

Wincing as Karin deposited me in front of the two boys, I rolled my shoulder as Karin performed the formalities. "Ichigo, Toshiro, this is Momo Hinamori. Momo, this is Ichigo Kurosaki, unfortunately my brother, and Toshiro Hitsugaya."

I smiled weakly. "Yeah, I already met Toshiro. How many sibling you actually have Karin?"

Karin smiled. "Two, just Ichigo and my little sister who's named Yuzu. Poor Toshiro has Yachiru for a little sister though, and I'd take Yuzu over her anyday, no offense Toshiro."

Toshiro shrugged. "Don't matter. I'd take Yuzu over her anyday too. Do you have any siblings Momo?" he added casually.

For some reason, Ichigo and Karin both snapped their heads up and looked at Toshiro as he said this. He seemed unfazed, however, and waited patiently for an answer.

I answered after a moment. "No…no, I'm actually an only child. I…I had a brother, but he was killed in a car accident a few years ago." I shifted my gaze to look down at the floor as I said this. I didn't usually share this with people, let alone strangers, but it seemed an insult to Kaito's memory if I didn't mention that I hadn't always been an only child.

Everyone's expressions softened. "I'm sorry." murmured Toshiro. Karin put a hand around my shoulder and gave me a hug, and although I'd only met her a few minutes ago it wasn't uncomfortable. It felt like a life long friend had given me a hug that was as normal as day. Throughout this, Ichigo was giving Toshiro a quizzical look.

I wiped away some moisture that had accumulated in my eyes. "It was a long time ago…I think I can accept it now."

The tension was broken when a curious Yachiru popped above Toshiro's shoulder. "Why's it so quiet here? You'd think someone just died!" she exclaimed.

Ichigo, Karin, and I all winced when she said this. Toshiro, on the other hand, suddenly had this frighteningly stern look in his eye. He very slowly turned to face Yachiru, who had this innocent look on her face while her head was cocked to the side.

"Yachiru," he hissed, "go away. I'll speak to you later." Now, it was quite apparent that usually the little blob of bubble gum would ignore him, but the vehemence in his voice warned her that she'd just said something seriously wrong. Her head bowed down a fraction of an inch and she scuttled to her mother.

Toshiro sighed. "I'm…so sorry about that. Yachiru usually isn't that harsh."

I gulped, trying to fight back the tears or the blushing, I didn't know which. "It's okay. She didn't know. And I'm sure she'll learn when she gets older." I smiled waveringly. "That's what being a big brother's all about right? Making sure your younger sister or brother will always learn."

In response to this, Karin and Ichigo both nodded, but Toshiro remained passive.

For the next few nights, I couldn't stop thinking about that moment. The moment when Toshiro had remained silent when I made the comment about big brothers. What could he have been thinking? Did he have history that he'd been reminded of when I'd said it, or was he simply pondering the meaning of my words? My head spun with countless questions, which wasn't a very good thing since the three days from that day would be the morning I'd be starting my first day at Karakura High, and little did I know, but I'd need all the energy I could get.

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The morning of my first day, I woke up incredibly excited. I'd set my alarm for 6am, but instead my excitement had woken me at 5am. No matter, I thought to myself, an extra hour to prepare never hurt anyone. Streaking out of my bed, I headed for my bathroom and flipped the light on. After brushing my teeth and setting my hair in its usual bun, again deciding against make up, I headed over to my closet.

My wardrobe had swelled considerably since the day of the party. Karin had proved to be an excellent shopping partner and friend, and now my closet was stuffed with all of Japan's latest trends. However, Karakura High had a uniform, so I selected the first set on the rack. As I donned the new attire, I rolled the sleeves and skirt in the right places so that I would be wearing the uniform in what Karin called 'the right way'. I hoped that it'd make my first day a bit less awkward if I knew that I wasn't dressing weird.

After getting dressed, making my bed, tidying my room, and preparing my bag for the day, I still had a decent half hour left before having to head out to school with Karin. Deciding to calm my thoughts before my first day, I said goodbye to Mama without a breakfast and headed for my peach grove.

When I arrived, I was delighted to find that some of the fruit had ripened to just the right degree in the past few days. I'd been anticipating this, and reached up to pick a few for breakfast. The produce proved to be some of the best peaches I'd ever tasted. The flesh was tender and sweet, and the juices seemed to be just pouring out. I ate as daintily as possible while enjoying the falling blossoms around me. This truly was my little spot of heaven on Earth. And so, I was quite depressed when I checked my watch and saw that it was time to go.

Saying goodbye to my place of serenity, I headed back through the woods and came to the street, where I saw Karin waiting patiently.

She grinned. "You're earlier than I expected."

I returned the smile. "I woke up pretty early…was too excited."

Karin laughed. "Hope that excitement turns into energy soon…you're about to enter the slaughter house." She had a scary glint in her eyes as she said that.

I laughed nervously as we set off for the school, which was only a few blocks away.

As we walked through the gate, someone came up from behind us and playfully grabbed Karin around the neck. I recognized the signature orange hair as Ichigo's.

"Ready for your first day as a sophomore squirt?" he asked as his sister as he gave her hair a brotherly rub.

Karin proceeded to somehow kick his hand away, even though it was on top of her head. "Yeah, and you ready for your first day at kindergarten?" she growled.

The comment bounced right off of Ichigo as he asked me, "Hey, Momo, aren't you about to start your junior year? I'm pretty sure that Toshiro's starting his as well. Maybe you two'll bump into each other." He gave a wink that failed to send me a message.

Just then, the school's rusted bell rang and signaled to everyone that class was to start. I bid farewell to the Kurosakis, making my way upstream the crowd towards the office. And then, when the crowd had thinned to nothing, I realized that I had no idea where the office was.

I roamed the halls of the ridiculously large school helplessly until I finally gave up, sliding against a wall until I was sitting on the floor. I decided that I'd just wait here until someone came along that could help me find the office. I was starting to doze off when a flash of white caught my attention. Trying to focus my eyes, I made out the blurry figure of a white haired boy walking towards me. When my sight did eventually sharpen, I saw that it was Toshiro.

He bent down until his eyes were level with mine and said softly, "Hey, Momo. The teacher sent me out to find you. You're not the first new kid to get lost on her first day." He smiled a small, almost unnoticeable smile at the last part.

I grinned up at him. "Well, good thing this school has people who're willing to search the halls for poor victims like me."

Toshiro almost laughed as he helped me up. He didn't really seem like one who laughed much, so I took this as a good thing. "Yeah, I guess. I'm supposing you were looking for the office to find your first class, but since I'm in it I'll just show you right there."

I thanked him and we walked in companionable silence until we reached a door marked with a B642. Just how big was this school?

Toshiro opened the door for me and led me in to where our teacher was. The teacher, a woman who seemed to be in her early 60's, smiled as she saw us approach.

"Aah, excellent. You found her. Thank you so much for volunteering to find her and be her guide for today, Hitsugaya." She motioned to the two empty seats in the back. As we walked through the aisles toward them, I whispered, "You volunteered? To be my guide? What happened to the teacher sending you out to find me?" I grinned mischievously. Toshiro simply smiled a bit and shrugged as he slipped into his seat. As I followed suit, I couldn't help but allow a small smile. At least I'd be with someone I semi-knew for the whole day. Today would be a good day. I happily opened my brand new books and started taking notes, oblivious to the jealous glares of just about every girl in the room and the daggers being stared at me by a certain bleached blonde who silently fumed beside me.

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Okay I've just replaced all my chapters with the edits cause its starting to annoy me that they aren't sticking -_-|

Well, that's chapter three! Plenty of opportunities for fluff to blossom at this point. R & R! I don't mind if its just two words, I get all excited and motivated to write when I see reviews. :DDDD


	4. Trays and Bathrooms

Disclaimer: I don't own any Bleach characters, just any OC's that might appear. I'm not sure yet. ;)

Author Note: Finally, some excitement has come! Read and review and I promise more! More reviews and it'll turn into fluff. Seriously, reviews are like my chocolate. Iz killz for them.

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Throughout the morning, Toshiro walked with me from class to class, showing me the grounds. It was convenient that he was my guide, because he was in seven of my eight classes. He explained how the school's guiding system worked, and left me thoroughly confused. There were so many floors and sub-sections I could barely keep track of where the bathrooms were.

When it came time for lunch, Toshiro led me over to the table where he, Karin, Ichigo, and several other people I'd yet to meet sat.

As we approached, Karin began the introductions. I met her boyfriend, Shushei, who had an interesting array of tattoos on his face and arm and neck. A guy named Renji also had tattoos, but his were more along the tribal style. There was also Orihime, who was eating the strangest lunch I'd ever seen in my life, and Uryu, who was somehow managing to share it with her. A tall Mexican named Chad grunted in greeting, and two girls named Tatsuki and Rukia and two guys named Keigo and Mizuiro smiled at me as Karin said their names. They seemed like a nice enough, albeit large, crowd and I felt comfortable eating with them, even if I wouldn't be able to remember all their names for a while.

Toshiro soon rejoined us with his lunch, sitting by me as he greeted the group. They were all strangely quiet as they watched him take out his lunch, switching their gazes between him and me. It made me feel a little uneasy, for the majority of the girls in the courtyard had started to stare as well. I began to wonder if I'd done something wrong.

I was grateful when Karin broke the tension by clearing her throat. "So, Momo, how've you liked the school so far?"

I grinned. "It's huge, but I like it so far. Toshiro's been my guide for the day, so I don't really have to worry about getting lost. A lot of people've been looking at me funny however…" I trailed off.

Everyone seemed to become eerily still as I said that Toshiro was my guide, except for Toshiro, who remained eating silently, and Tatsuki, who snorted.

"Ignore them. They see every new girl as a bundle of…possibilities."

We ate for the rest of lunch, laughing and joking, but I still couldn't get over the feeling that I'd done something wrong. Plus, I felt like I was being watched all the time.

When I got up to bust my dishes myself, several people gave me wary glances. Tatsuki looked back at them and just nodded. _The people in this school sure are strange…_

It took me a while to find the rack where students put their trays, but I eventually found it near one of the oh-so-rare bathrooms. I was quite pleased as I neatly stacked my tray on the freakishly tall pile.

Just then, several pairs of hands grabbed various parts of me and dragged me into the bathroom. I couldn't see their faces until they placed me promptly in front of the sink, where only two light bulbs. It reminded me of those cop movies where they interrogated suspects.

But, as this unnaturally blond girl began to speak, I knew it was an interrogation and far more.

"You. What's your name?" she hissed.

At first my answer wavered. "M..Momo Hinamori. Why'd you take me here?" I demanded, my voice growing stronger.

The blonde ignored my question. "Are you the girl Toshiro-kun's been guiding?" her voice remained icy.

"Yes." I answered defiantly. "What's it to you? Who are you?"

This time, one of the other girls spoke. Still ignoring my questions, she merely stated, "Stay away from Toshiro-kun. You can't have him. We claimed him as ours long ago."

_Claimed? Is he like a toy to them?_ I thought, bewildered.

"No. Toshiro's my friend." I replied after a moment. The majority of the group, which I estimated to be of about seven girls, seemed surprised by my defiant answer.

The blonde seemed merely annoyed. "Ex..cuse…me?" she asked very slowly, adding to my fear.

I decided to stick with my answer. "No. Toshiro's my friend. " I repeated, though this time my voice trembled just a bit.

The blonde smiled, a slow, evil smile. "Well, then. I guess we'll just have to leave a little reminder of what'll happen to you if you ignore our warning." At these words, the other girls also smiled and the group slowly advanced.

I was waiting for my life to flash before my eyes when suddenly, the door was slammed open. It wasn't until much later that I realized that the door had been locked.

A figure stood at the threshold, but I couldn't make out her face. "You lot. Out." The statement was short and simple, but had no affect on the girls until the girl stepped into the light, which revealed her to be Tatsuki.

When my would-be assaulters saw who it was, they blanched as a group. It would've been comical had I not thought that I was about to die.

Tatsuki stepped to the side, giving the group an escape route. They all gratefully took it, moving so fast that I could barely see the blur. However, the blonde stayed behind.

"You won't always have her to save you, Hinamori. And when you don't, we'll be back." She hissed into my ear, and dashed off into the cafeteria.

I exhaled in relief when she was finally gone. "Thanks, Tatsuki-chan. I'm pretty sure you would've found my remains somewhere at the bottom of the lake a few weeks from now if you hadn't come in."

Tatsuki smiled. "No problem. I'm sorry for letting you go off on your own though. I should've known they'd attack at their first chance."

I raised my eyebrows. "I have a few questions though…who are they? Why do they want to hurt me? And why, my god, are they so afraid of you?" I asked the last question with awe in my voice.

Tatsuki laughed. "They're Toshiro's informal fan club. Just about every girl in school likes him to some extent, but they're completely obsessed. Even girls with boyfriends like him. Even Rukia, Orihime, and Karin liked him at one point. Even I did. But he just ignored anyone and everyone. And it only makes them try harder. To answer your second question, I think they feel like you're a…threat."

Tatsuki's explanation had only made me ridiculously confused. Shaking my head, I merely said, "You still didn't answer my last question. Why're they so afraid of you?"

She laughed again. "I'm the second best high school girl fighter in Japan, and they know it. Leiko Sato especially. I beat her up in the seventh grade for stepping over the line just a bit too much with Toshiro."

I cocked my head to the side. "Which one was Leiko?" I asked.

Tatsuki grimaced. "The blonde one. She's basically the leader of their little fan club."

I winced. "She's really a piece of work, isn't she?"

She nodded. "Yeah, but she probably thinks she's the most beautiful thing to walk the Earth. C'mon, the others are probably worried. We should head back."

I was grateful that I had Tatsuki at my side as we made our way through the cafeteria. For some reason, I had a feeling that I wouldn't have made it in one piece if she hadn't been there.

As we approached the group, I could hear that they were arguing, and I could see that Toshiro was gone. However, when Tatsuki and I sat down and they noticed our return, they fell silent.

Tatsuki gave them all a look and spoke. "She's fine. They didn't get to hurt her before I got there."

Everyone seemed to breathe in relief, but I was still confused as to why they wanted to hurt me.

Rukia was the only one to reply. "I told you we shouldn't have let her go by herself. They're like rabid dogs waiting for a chance to pounce on their prey."

Tatsuki sighed. "Yeah, I know. Sorry about that, Momo."

Orihime, on the other hand, seemed enthralled by my misfortune. "This means something, though. How's it feel to be the girl every other girl would kill to be, Momo?" She wiggled her eyebrows as she said this.

I was even more confused. "Inoue, I don't think that I understand-"

Karin cut me off with a laugh. "Say whatever you like, Hinamori. It still won't convince the some three thousand girls who think otherwise."

I was starting to get a little annoyed that no one seemed willing to explain anything to me. I didn't have much time to ponder, however, for the bell rang. I waved goodbye to everyone except Karin, who walked with me to my last class of the day, my only class without Toshiro. _At least Karin can be my guide since she's in it._ I thought. I was pretty sure that I'd get hopelessly lost in this monstrous school again if I didn't have a guide.

Karin continued to give frustratingly obscure comments as we walked, but I eventually started to drown them out, blanking out into my own little world, where the air smelled of peach blossoms and there was nothing but blissful silence to calm me.

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Whelp, that's chappie number four! Awww Momo's all confused from all the annoying subliminal hinting people've been doing. She's so innocent. ;]

PLEASE REVIEW! Reviews are likez gas to me. Not enough, and oh so very hard to get nowadays xP


	5. Textbooks and Trees

Whoohoo! Chapter five is here! Longest of all the chappies I've written too. Btw, if you haven't done your Bleach homework you might not remember some of these characters names since they're quite minor, like Keigo's sister, but I swear! None of the new characters in this chapter are OC's!

*Dun dun duuun!* I give youuuuu

CHAPTA CINCO! *im oh so proud of it =]*

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I breathed in relief when the bell finally rang, signaling that I had actually survived my first day at Karakura High. Karin waited for me as I packed up my books, and we walked through the aisles together toward the front door.

However, just as I was passing the second row, a foot shot out from out of nowhere. I quickly jumped over it, grateful that I'd inherited Mama's nimbleness. When I looked around to see who owned the offending limb, I saw no one, just a group of people fighting to get through the door. I sighed. It could've been any one of them; they'd had a chance to escape into the crowd.

Karin saw the whole episode. She looked preoccupied as we made our way through the halls, and was oddly silent when we met up with Orihime and Tatsuki and Rukia at the front of school.

We started to walk home together, since we all lived within a few blocks of each other. As Rukia and I were talking to Orihime about random babble that only she seemed to understand, Karin and Tatsuki lagged behind us a bit and were speaking in worried whispers. Eventually, they both nodded and caught up with us.

"Momo, can we ask you something?" Tatsuki inquired, the same worried look on her face as Karin's.

"Sure, go ahead." I replied, trying to sound cheerful. The tone of her voice made me feel like something was wrong.

"Karin told me about what happened in class, and that coupled with what happened at lunch is worrying us. You might not be recognizable by the end of the month if you don't know how to protect yourself. However, Karin said that you dodged the foot pretty nicely. Have you ever trained in fighting before?" Tatsuki trailed off.

I thought for a second. "No, but I took a lot of sports at my old school, so I have pretty good reflexes. Also, being quick kinda runs in the family." I smiled.

"That's good," Karin said, "because Tatsuki and I were thinking of teaching you some basic fighting so that you can get out of a situation like today without either of us."

Rukia smiled. "I wish I could teach, but I only know the very basics and I'd just get in the way." Tatsuki grinned at her. "Don't worry, Rukia-chan. You can come too if Momo agrees."

I pondered what she said for a minute. True, what had happened at lunch did scare me. And it might be useful in the future if I knew how to defend myself. "Alright." I smiled. "Thanks for the offer. Look out, Momo's gonna be a badass fighter from now on!" I grinned at the image in my head of me in a ninja costume.

The three of them laughed. Orihime piped in. "I'd teach you too, but Tatsuki said I'm at Shyodan level or something and that doesn't sound like I can teach much…" _Shyodan? Isn't that like the first level of black belt or something?_ I wondered. I was about to ask when Karin gave me a look and whispered into my ear. "Orihime _is _at Shyodan, but if she tried to teach you she'd probably mortally incapacitate you in the process." She grinned. "Not that she's too good. She just doesn't know the finer points of teaching, namely teaching without demonstrating on the student." I laughed. Orihime did seem like that type of person.

For the rest of the walk we laughed and talked about things in general. My house soon came into view, and I waved goodbye to the four of them while they continued forward. As I strolled down the cute stone path the house had come with, I saw that Mama had woven honeysuckle and jasmine into the trellis out front. I liked the affect, and it gave the wind a sweet aroma as it wafted around the neighborhood. There was also a small seedling planted beside the freshly weeded flower bed, and I smiled when I saw that it was a peach tree. Mama was an avid gardener, and she worked fast.

As I walked into the house I saw Mama pruning a small bonsai tree at the kitchen table. "Hey, honey. How was your first day at school?" she smiled as she looked up from her work.

"Pretty good," I answered, "I met a lot of new people and my classes are okay. The school's huge though. I got lost too many times to count."

Mama laughed. "Yeah, I remember that. The old Karakura High, the one I went to when I grew up here, was pretty big too. But you'll get used to it, sweet. And I'm glad you made some new friends." She looked proud of me.

I blushed. "Not too hard, seeing as you had that 'meeting' with 'some' neighbors a few days ago. But I'm happy you did, anyway. It made my first day a lot easier."

Mama's grin widened. I loved it when she looked so happy. "I told you so. Anyway, how d'you like how this bonsai's coming out?"

I smiled. "Beautiful as usual. And the garden looks really pretty. I liked the peach tree. But what inspired your gardening splurge, o' Green-Thumbed-One?"

Mama suddenly had a mischievous look in her eye. "Oh, we're meeting the neighbors again this weekend for dinner, and I thought I'd make the house look pretty this time."

I was quite pleased to hear this. Now that I knew the people, this 'meeting' would be less awkward. I left Mama to her pruning and grabbed a Kit Kat bar to munch on while I did my homework. It'd be best to get it out of the way now rather than later.

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For the rest of the week, I had a good life. Everyday I'd meet up with the girls and we'd walk to school together, laughing and carefree. Leiko and her gang didn't bother me much, though occasionally I'd get hit in the head with paper in class or get tripped in the hall. The only big thing they did was ganging up with me in the locker room and slamming me into lockers. I wasn't too badly hurt though, for Tatsuki and Karin had started their training immediately and I knew some basic things to minimize injury and in the end I managed to escape by giving one girl several well-placed punches and escaping through the opening she provided.

Toshiro had proved to be an excellent guide. Throughout the day he'd walk with me from class to class, and we talked a great deal. We helped each other with homework, seeing as we were in so many classes together, ate lunch together, sat in class together, and basically became good friends. However, whenever we passed Leiko or any of her followers as we walked to class, Toshiro would look down and seem almost ashamed that girls like them were even in his school. I couldn't help but share that feeling.

The last class of Friday was, to say the least, boring. Our History teacher was a crinkly old man who just walked into class, read out of a textbook, assigned a few comprehension questions, and left. About halfway through, Toshiro leaned over to me.

"Congratulations." he breathed.

I was puzzled. "What for?" I asked, cocking my head to the side.

"You're about to finish your first week at Karakura High. I'd say that's something to be proud of." he answered, a slight smile on his face.

I laughed. "I guess so. Thanks for sticking with me this whole time."

For some reason, this comment made Toshiro's smile fade away. He suddenly looked somewhat preoccupied.

"Miss Hinamori, please pass out the new textbooks." said the dry, quavering voice of our sensei.

"Hai." I replied, rising out of my seat and hurrying over to the monstrous stack of shiny, purple textbooks resting on his desk.

I lifted up the pile, my breath catching in my throat a bit. It was heavier than I expected, but I could manage. I began to walk through the aisles, allowing each person to grab a copy off the top. But then, the foot that had tried to trip me on Monday again shot out and this time, succeeded. Again, I didn't get to see who it was, because I was promptly buried under a mountain of purple that had eagerly followed me after I fell. One particular copy hit me squarely between the eyes, and the last thing I remembered before blacking out was wondering if I'd have a triangle bruise on my forehead after this.

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When I woke up, I was somehow in the infirmary. _How did I get here?_ I wondered dully as I sat up. Suddenly, a plastic covered ice pack filled with frozen gel was smacked onto my forehead, effectively slamming me back down onto the hard bed.

A very large, beefy woman loomed above me. "Hinamori, keep this ice on and try not to move. You're gonna have bruises in the morning, I can tell you that." Her voice was strangely deep for a woman.

I groaned. I could definitely feel that she'd be right.

"Who brought me here?" I asked as I sat up a bit and looked around blearily.

"Oh, some boy with white hair. He ran off as soon as I told him you'd be alright." The nurse said dully and she wrote something down on a clipboard.

I lay back down. "Toshiro…" I whispered.

Half an hour later, the bell rang, screaming into my ear that school was over and that, as Toshiro said, I had just finished my first week at Karakura. The nurse discharged me, but not without shoving several ice packs into my arms. I walked a bit unsteadily through the halls and by some miracle managed to locate my locker.

"Momo!" a voice said. I looked around to see Rukia running towards me.

"Toshiro told me what happened in history, but then he ran off _really_ fast to somewhere before I could ask anything. Are you okay?" She said all of this quickly, and I had to listen closely. Usually I didn't have to try very hard with Japanese, fast or slow, but my head had just been mauled by textbooks and I wasn't thinking too clearly.

"I…I'm fine. Where're Orihime and Tatsuki and Karin?" I asked.

"Oh, they're really sorry but Tatsuki's mom called them, telling them to go over to Tatsuki's place to get ready for something important. My mom called too, but I'd already heard about you and told her I'd be there soon."

I smiled weakly. "Her mom probably called so that they could get ready for my mom's party tonight. She's been decorating the house all week, and she asked me not to tell anyone until today, which of course I totally forgot to do." I grinned embarrassedly, scratching my head.

Rukia laughed. "Alright then. No wonder she called. She probably wants Orihime and Karin to get Tatsuki to try and wear a dress. They'll fail miserably, though. C'mon, we should probably get over there too."

"Actually, I think I'm just going to go home. I have a ton of homework to get done. You go on to Tatsuki's, though. I don't mind."

Rukia smiled. "Suit yourself."

We continued chatting as we walked, and when we got to my house I waved goodbye and made my way through the splendid garden that had bloomed over the past week into my house.

As I walked in, I saw that Mama was napping on the couch. I smiled. _Poor Mama, she's probably been working all day. Better let her sleep before the party._

I tiptoed up the stairs and quietly set my bag down, taking out my homework. Even though it would be the weekend tomorrow, I didn't want anything worrying me throughout the party.

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A couple hours later, I stretched out on my bed, a little cramped from sitting at my desk for so long. At least I'd finished the homework. I was about to doze off when suddenly my phone vibrated in my pocket. I flipped it open and saw that it was Karin calling.

"H'lo?" I answered. Karin sounded excited. "Momo! Tatsuki's mom just told me that we'd be going over to your place again tonight. She's had me and Orihime and Rukia trying to get Tatsuki in a dress for hours, and she wouldn't tell us why up until now. She also said that Toshiro, Renji, Shushei, Uryu, Keigo, and Mizuiro and their families and our families are all coming as well. That sounds really cool, but dude, that's like forty people for 'meeting with the neighbors'."

I laughed. "Yeah, it sounds like our moms are getting along. They seem to be alike. I don't mind a big group, though. It makes it more fun. And you should see what my mom did to the garden…" We continued to ramble about the party for a while until the grandfather clock downstairs told me that it was five o'clock. "Hey, thanks for calling Karin. I need to get the house and myself ready. See you in about an hour." I grinned. Karin said goodbye and I hung up, throwing my phone on my bedside table.

I hopped out of bed and made my way to my sink, which had accumulated notorious feminine beauty care products over the past few days, credit to Karin. I didn't think I'd be using any of it though, despite Karin's claims of their potential. I picked up a brush a combed out the tangles in my hair that had formed from lying on the bed. When it was smooth and straight again, I put up in my bun and covered it with a pink swatch of cloth, also tying the usual ribbons to it. Looking at myself in the mirror, I somehow felt unsatisfied. Laughing when I remembered what I'd forgotten, for it wasn't really something you could see, I opened a cabinet on the wall to my right and took out a tiny glass vial with a spray nozzle. The thing no bigger than my right thumb and the small space inside the glass was filled with a pinkish liquid. I closed my eyes as I sprayed a cloud in front of me and stepped through. As the scent settled on me, I thought it smelled faintly of a combination of peaches and honeysuckle. I grinned. Papa had given me this perfume before we left the states, as an early birthday present. He'd said that the scent matched me perfectly, and I had to agree with him. I reminded myself to thank him for it.

I walked over to my closet and changed out of my uniform into a casual white tank top and another pair of dark jean shorty shorts. It wasn't a formal occasion, so I decided not to elaborate on what I wore. When I checked my watch, I saw that I only had about half an hour to help Mama prepare for the party. I shut off the light in my room and quickly made my way down the stairs.

Mama, mercifully, had taken care of the drinks this time. As I looked around, I saw Papa's figure standing in the doorway. "Oh, honey, you look lovely." Papa said as he saw me coming down the stairs. Apparently he'd come home early for the party. I gave him a quick hug, happy that he'd come home. "You smell lovely too. Are you wearing that perfume I gave you? Maybe to impress someone? Hmm?" he asked, an unabashed smile on his face.

I blushed several shades. "No, Papa, not to impress anyone. I just like how it smells." I grinned. Shaking his head, Papa released me and I quickly took up two trays of drinks and carried them over to the living room. Mama sure had outdone herself. She'd placed the bonsai in the center of the table as a center piece, and had tastefully decorated the room in various places with ikebana, flower arranging. Although traditional ikebana was usually conservative and rather cold, Mama had her own style that suggested warmth and abundance. She also loved using very fragrant flowers, so that the air in a room would be decorated as well. The floral smell that traveled around the room was heavenly. I liked Mama's taste, because it wasn't too elaborate and gaudy. She made things simple yet still fancy and beautiful.

Just as I was bringing in the last trays, the doorbell rang. Since the door was on the way to the living room, I decided I might as well answer it. When I got to the mahogany archway, I carefully balanced one of the trays in my hands on the tops of the glasses in the other one, trying to make it as stable as possible. I was desperately hoping my right arm wouldn't give out as I turned the metal doorknob. Not really looking at who was in front of me, I quickly shifted the tray back into my left hand, grateful for the returned balance. Somewhat pleased with myself, I finally looked up to see none other than the Hitsugaya family.

Toshiro's father laughed when he saw me. "Nice move, except had I known how inconvenient answering the door was for you I probably would've waited a minute or two. My name's Ukitake Hitsugaya, I don't believe we were formally introduced before." As he said this he took one of the trays in my hand, and I looked up gratefully. Toshiro's father had a very kind, smiling face and long white hair. "And I'm Isane Hitsugaya, Toshiro's mother." (***_Author note_: Yeah I know this is a kinda random pairing but looking back on chapter two I saw that Toshiro's mom needed white hair soo I'm kinda trapped. But who cares, now that I think of it, it's also kinda a cute pairing. Also for those of you who don't remember Isane is Isane Kotetsu in Bleach, 4th division Lieutenant to Unohana. _End of Author Note Doii_***) I switched my gaze to the woman beside Ukitake. She also had a kind face, and her eyes were soft and warm. Her hair was also white, but it was cropped short, just below her earlobe. She also had four long, thin braids, two coming from behind each ear. I thought it was quite an exotic look and I rather admired her style.

At this time, Toshiro came from behind his parents and smiled at me. For some reason, the smile seemed rare, like I'd never seen him truly smile before today. However, for some reason, there seemed to be something…pained, beneath it. Either way, it was a sincere smile that reflected his parents'. "Sorry that I didn't introduce my futaoya last time. But since they've taken care of it themselves, I don't think I'll do it again." he said, throwing a glance at his parents.

I grinned as Yachiru came into view, the only spot of color in all the whiteness that surrounded me. Her pink presence seemed like a jolt after looking at three people who had such pale hair. "Mooooooomoooooo-chaaan!" she squealed. She began to charge, seemingly flying through the air, and I sweatdropped when I realized I was carrying a tray of glasses, all filled to the brim with very colorful, very stainable drinks. I was also wearing a very clean white shirt. "Yachi-!" I began to half scream, half croak. Suddenly, Yachiru was lifted up in the middle of her flight as Toshiro's strong arms caught her. As he tried with all his might to restrain her, I smiled gratefully at him. In between Yachiru's kicks and punches, he returned the smile.

The rest of the night, I got to meet the families of all the people I'd met at lunch today. Shushei had a younger sister named Nemu, who was oddly quiet and reserved compared to her outgoing brother. Either way, the few words that came out of her mouth were kind and I took a liking to her. Rukia had a playful big brother named Kaien who for some reason reminded me of Ichigo. Renji also had a brother, a blonde boy in Ichigo's year named Kira. Kira was quiet, but not as quiet as Nemu and I got to know him a little throughout the evening. Keigo had an older sister of about college age that looked like him named Mizuho, and she seemed to take the role of discipliner over Keigo, which I found rather funny. Also to my amusement, Tatsuki arrived in jeans and a T-shirt, saying that in the end they'd given up since the party wasn't even that formal anyway and with a proud smirk on her face. I found out that she, Orihime, Uryu, and Mizuiro were all only children, and that Orihime didn't even have parents. I was quite sad after I heard her story, and as she recited it many people at the party fell silent. In the end, Tatsuki gave a toast to Sora, Orihime's late brother, and there was a moment of silence for him.

When the night was finally over and the guests began to leave, I plopped on the couch, exhausted from meeting so many new people. I wasn't sure I would even be able to remember half their names. The last party had only had the Hitsugayas, Kurosakis, and a few other people from around the neighborhood that I hadn't really gotten to know since they didn't have children. This, however, had been a tidal wave of people.

Mama and Papa gave up trying to clean, claiming they were too exhausted and that they would do it tomorrow. After bidding goodbye to the remaining guests and saying goodnight to me they retired to their room. The house became silent; I was becoming rather sleepy when suddenly a hand touched my shoulder. I almost shrieked, but calmed down when I saw that it was Toshiro.

"Toshiro! I thought that everyone had left!" I exclaimed. _Does he always have to appear before I'm about to doze off?_ I thought, half laughing in my thoughts.

"Sorry I startled you," he said, an unreadable expression on his face, "but I wanted to talk to you."

I nodded. "Alright, but what about your family? Won't they wonder where you are?" I asked.

He shook his head. "I told them to go ahead and that I'd catch up. We don't live too far a walk from here."

Nodding again, I merely asked "So what is it you want to talk about?"

He hesitated. "I…I actually wanted to apologize for today and Monday. Those girls probably wouldn't have bothered you at lunch if I hadn't been with you for all of today. I spoke to them, however. I got torn apart by them, actually…barely escaped with my life." It wasn't until then that I noticed several scratches on various parts of him that implied that someone had been clawing at him, or maybe even trying to grab bits of him. "That's why you didn't see me when you got back. I'm sorry, but I don't think my words had much affect…" he looked almost ashamed.

At first, I was merely confused. Exceedingly confused. He thought that that was his fault? He actually went to speak to them on my behalf? He braved the people he hated for me? I was heart-warmed. Not many people in my life had tried to stand up for me, except Tatsuki and them, and no one had ever done it needlessly when I wasn't in immediate danger. Perhaps I was elaborating the actual meaning a bit, but my mind tended to make mountains out of molehills.

I hadn't noticed that an awkward silence had formed while I had pondered all of this. Toshiro's eyes were somewhat pleading.

"Please, Momo. Say something. I hate it when people are hurt because of me. I feel terrible that just because I was around you, you were threatened almost hurt and-" I cut his rant off by raising my hand and smiling.

"Good lord, Toshiro-kun. You think that that was your fault? I don't mind them if it means I get to keep being your friend. And even if it didn't help, thank you for what I suspect was risking your life to try and ensure my safety. Real friends are the kind of people that do that. I'm glad I met you, Toshiro-kun. This feels like the start of a beautiful friendship." I gave him a hug as I said this. When I pulled back, I almost laughed. Toshiro's face was so stunned it probably would've stayed like that for a thousand years had I not lightly shaken his shoulder. I laughed at his confused face after he snapped out of his reverie.

When his senses finally came to, he grinned broadly. True happiness seemed to radiate from his smile. "I do too, Momo." he paused for a moment, and added, "You smell nice…like peaches." he blushed somewhat when he realized what he'd said.

I giggled. "Thank you."

He cocked his head to the side, scratching it. The perfect image of confused. "I don't get it though. Just about every time that I've seen you in the time that you've been here you seem so…carefree. And you have a lot to deal with. Moving, for one. Meeting new people, saying goodbye to old friends, and now, putting up with Leiko and them. How are you so…free?" he asked.

I grinned. "I probably wouldn't be if I hadn't found something. Do you still have time? I want to show you something."

He smiled. "'Course I do. Lead on."

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A few minutes later, I found myself in my peach grove with Toshiro by my side. I smiled when I noticed that he was staring around in wonder, his mouth hanging open a little. The full moon's light reflected in his startling teal eyes, giving him an oddly innocent look.

"How did you find this place?" he asked, still gaping.

I laughed. "I was exploring the woods the day we arrived. I just stumbled across it, and now I come here regularly just to…get away."

He crouched down, a slight smile on his face as he picked up a fallen blossom. "It's so silent and…serene. I can see how it helps you."

I crouched down beside him, gently taking the flower from his hand and twirling it by the stem. "Yeah. Not much changes here. Just the trees and they're seasons." I smiled up at them.

He then lay down on the grass and closed his eyes, breathing in deeply. I giggled when I got an idea. Silently standing up, I picked a plump, ripe peach off a nearby branch and snuck up from behind him. I dangled the peach in front of his face, closer and closer, until the fuzz rubbed his nose and he opened his eyes, wide with shock. I laughed when he finally understood what it was he was staring at and took a bite out of it. For the rest of the time that we were there, we laughed, picking peaches and eating together and forgetting the troubles of the outside world.

How sad it was that the outside world, namely a blonde as she compulsively plotted as she lay in bed, could not, and would not forget the two of us.

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Liek whoaaaa that was long. Hope you enjoyed it though! Awww they're such good friends now. :] Leiko's starting to scare me. :(

REVIEW AND YE SHALL HAVE MORE! Seriously, chapter six probably won't come for another week cause I got tests unless *somebody* (cough, cough) gives me enough reviews.

teehee :P


	6. Strawberry Blondes and Punches

Warning: Major fluff! Also, I swear I'm not updating until 20 reviews or more! *Laughs maniacally*

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The weekend seemed to pass in a blur. One moment I was in the peach grove with Toshiro, the next I was waking up to the sound of my alarm on Monday morning. _Where did the weekend go? _I thought sluggishly as I slipped out of bed and performed my morning ritual.

Half an hour later, I found myself meeting up with Tatsuki, Orihime, Rukia, and Karin at the corner, breakfast peach in hand just like any other morning. We all smiled at each other and began walking to school, discussing the ridiculous amount of homework we'd had over the weekend and the party on Friday.

We soon arrived at the gate, and I saw the familiar scene of Ichigo creeping up behind to spook one of us, Orihime being his choice today. Shushei and Renji followed close behind, looking almost bored with the going-ons. Orihime shrieked a little when Ichigo's arm obscured her vision, and punched him painfully in the ribs, Ichigo laughing at her roughness. Shushei and Renji caught up, Shushei wrapping his arms around Karin's waist and kissing her hair and Renji talking animatedly with Rukia.

I smiled. It was nice, seeing the affection within my group. Shaking my head, I bid goodbye to them all and made my way to my locker, where Toshiro would meet me to go to our first class together like any other morning. I grinned when I turned a corner and saw his snowy head in the crowd, leaning against my locker and avoiding the gapes of passing girls. I giggled and hurriedly went over to save him.

"Morning, Toshiro-kun." I smiled at him as I twirled the dial on my lock, pleased when the small mechanism inside it clicked and allowed me access to my books.

He breathed with relief when he saw me. "Thank god. I thought you'd never show up. Hurry up, we'll be late soon." Indeed, the crowd had begun to thin somewhat.

I nodded, slamming my door closed when I had my books. We began a half-walk half-run to class, a companionable silence between us. When we finally arrived at the classroom, Toshiro held the door open for me seemingly unknowingly as he walked through and scanned the class for empty seats. There were two nicely situated desks in the back, and we began to head for them.

I eyed the aisle carefully before walking through. Thankfully, the majority of the people sitting by it where guys, and I didn't think they would hurt me too much. Either way, I carefully scanned the space for feet as I made my way down, sighing with relief when I finally arrived at the desk. It really was nicely placed, at the very back so that no one could throw anything at me.

The rest of the morning passed surprisingly quickly for a Monday morning. For some reason though, there seemed to be a lot more sideways glances from people in Leiko's little group than usual. I decided to ignore it. Some rumor was probably flying around that would promptly be squashed by Tatsuki or Rukia or Karin or Orihime eventually.

When lunch arrived, I was surprised to see a new person within our little group. She was a curvy, tall, strawberry blonde who seemed quite excited to meet everyone, hugging each new person tightly when Ichigo introduced her. As Toshiro and I approached, she got a hopeful look in her eye and squealed in delight when Ichigo began, "Matsumoto, this is-"

"Konnichiwa! I'm Rangiku Matsumoto!" She somehow managed to pull us both into a bone-crushing hug, rambling about how we'd be such good friends and how she was soo excited to meet us. I liked her already.

A few minutes later, Matsumoto was scanning the crowd around us and suddenly got excited again. "Ooh! Who's that?" she said, bright eyed and pointing at a silver-haired senior whose name I didn't know.

Rukia followed her gaze and snorted. "That's Gin Ichimaru. Kinda creepy guy, mostly hangs out with some guys named Tosen and Aizen. They've got some bad reputations, but Gin only for being a little scary."

Rangiku giggled. "He's kinda cute."

All the girls gaped at her for a minute and the following few minutes was filled with a heated discussion between them arguing whether Gin was actually cute or not.

Throughout this, the guys seemed pretty bored. I excluded myself out of the conversation, not really having any opinion whatsoever when it came to Gin.

Suddenly, Toshiro's gaze, which had been lazily scanning the cafeteria, hardened frighteningly. He slowly got up and headed over to Leiko's table. Anyone else might've thought that he looked perfectly casual, but after spending so much time with him I could tell by the subtle way in which his fists were clenched and shaking that he was angry.

The girls' argument died down as our entire group watched him silently. He approached Leiko, who had been beckoning with a smug look on her face. She got up and whispered something in his ear, and suddenly Toshiro was furiously, though quietly, arguing with her. He made small hand gestures that suggested suppressed violence.

Tatsuki and Karin started to get up, but I stopped them with a look and rose instead. I casually made my way over to Toshiro and Leiko, ignoring the stares of now almost everyone in the cafeteria. Even the people in the quads that looked down on the cafeteria from different floors were listening.

"-do you mean by that?" Toshiro hissed as I came up. He seemed a bit startled by my presence, but I ignored him and smiled sweetly at Leiko. "What's going on over here?" I asked, managing to make it a perfectly innocent and nonchalant question.

Leiko spared no mercy. "We were talking about you, Hinamori. I was just pointing out to Toshiro here how plain, clumsy, stupid, and ugly you are." She smirked as she said this.

I flinched internally when her hard words hit my ears. However, by some miracle, I managed to retain my composure. Still smiling, I merely said, "Well, that's all fine and dandy. Shall we head back, Toshiro?"

Toshiro was about to say something when Leiko cut him off. "Also, I was about to mention something I heard from someone, Hinamori. Seems you had a brother, no? He was probably some drunk and reckless loser to be able to get so mangled up in a car crash…"

Suddenly, after a flash of red, I somehow found myself on top of Leiko, punching her lights out. She whimpered pitifully as I landed blow after blow, aiming well. She fought back dirtily between my hits however, and her punches had a strange edge to them and they landed. As I slowly realized what I was doing, I for some reason began to enjoy it. All the frustration and anger I'd had building up from the torment I'd received from her and her followers flowed out freely, and I almost laughed. My face was too set in determination, though, and I turned around and began attacking several sensitive muscles in her back and legs that hurt like hell when hit. The audience that had gathered roared. Apparently, there were a lot of people that endured Leiko as well. But then, a hand caught my shoulder.

When I turned to see who it was, I saw the blonde figure of Rangiku Matsumoto. She looked at me with a half smile on her face. "Believe me, I can tell that this girl probably deserves this, but I'd advise you to stop, Momo." She said, now grinning. "There's a teacher coming round to see what all the commotion's about, and I wouldn't want you to bruise a knuckle."

I sighed. Getting up off of Leiko, who was now glaring at me through her bloody nose and black eyes, I dusted myself off. Several people applauded, but all actions that suggested a fight had just taken place ceased as a teacher turned a corner. As she looked around with a confused face, several people moved quite casually to in front of Leiko, obscuring the teacher's vision of her messed up face. Apparently, the people at Karakura High didn't rely on teachers. Leiko's group seemed to be in agreement that this would be settled elsewhere.

When the teacher finally left, all chaos erupted. Seats were over turned as people fought to check out the damage to Leiko or to congratulate me. Leiko fought in vain to escape the crowd, but in the end made her way over to me instead with a livid expression. I suddenly noticed Toshiro at my side, a strangely dazed look on his face.

"You'll pay for this, Hinamori. I swear, you'll regret-" She began her sentence, but she never finished. One big reason for this was a tight hand on her mouth which just so happened to be my hand.

I glared at her. "Save it." I spat as I drew my other fist back, and I punched her one final time with a considerable amount of force. She fell back limply, falling to the floor before any of her followers could catch her. Toshiro stared down with a look of pure shock on his face, and I laughed.

He looked at me when I laughed, an utterly lost look plastered on his face. "Gosh, Toshiro, you probably wanted to do-" I began, but I was cut off. To my surprise, embarrassment, and delight, I found my words halted by Toshiro's soft lips on mine, kissing me smack dab in the middle of what I suspected to be everyone in the school, including a now-conscious, mortified Leiko and her followers. ALL of her followers.

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Review, cliffie will not be resolved by the adding of a new chapter until 20 reviews or up *smiles sweetly* =D

*Note Later Added* Alright y'all, I've just discovered the wonderful traffic viewing tool, and this story has almost 600 hits! *cough* *cough* So, no reason that two more reviews can't be added out of 600 hits, no? Chp.7's hot, ready and waiting, and omg-lord-help-me I'm **_dying_** to post it but I still need 2 reviews! C'mon, you know you want to.


	7. Dodgeballs and Pink Plastic Phones

Sweeeeet Lord almighty it took yall a while to reach 20 reviews. And there's 600 hits on this story, so there's absolutely no excuse. Anyway, here's the chp. I've been dying to post and some of you have hopefully been dying to read! Enjoy, and R&R!

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All was still for god knows how long. Although the world around me was so completely silent, a turmoil of thoughts and emotions ran through my mind. My heart felt like it had simply exploded, flooding my body and mind with such a pure, wonderful feeling of absolute bliss that my entire being was consumed by it. Barely aware of what I was doing, numb with happiness, my eyes closed and I wrapped my arms around Toshiro's neck, deepening the kiss. My fingers curled in his snowy locks, every one of my muscles acting as though the movement was only natural. Finally, the magical kiss broke He squeezed me tightly, and bent his head to place a kiss on my forehead. We looked in each others eyes for a long moment, and then it began.

The screaming. It was unbelievable. Simultaneously, Leiko and her little minions began to shriek in horror, while Orihime, Tatsuki, Rukia, and Karin began to scream in delighted squeals. A good deal of the guys around us cheered heartily, swarming around Toshiro and tearing him from my grasp, clapping him on the back. Meanwhile, I was half drowned in a body of girls who crashed around me, half to congratulate me and half to protect me from the tidal wave of Leiko followers who were savagely trying to claw their way to me. I suddenly realized in horror that we would have to fight to escape. Many of the boys also hit the realization, and pulled Toshiro safely into their ranks, despite his protests, while the majority of the girls who supported me (mainly my friends and girls with boyfriends) prepared to fight and defend.

The fight for my possession raged furiously. Tatsuki and Karin stationed themselves firmly at my sides, but soon my forces around them were overwhelmed. Leiko led the charge, the fury in her eyes almost visibly taking the form of flames from hell. At last, Tatsuki and Karin were swept in opposite directions, yelling for me to run. I tried to dodge her, but Leiko was stubbornly standing in front of me, the malice and ugly hate on her make-up layered and beat up face frighteningly fierce. I was preparing to fight for my life when my vision was suddenly blocked by the back of certain a snowy-haired boy, who had finally managed to escape the boys who had tried to hold him back.

The rage-driven girls stopped in their tracks at the sight of the person they had been fighting for, skidding several feet almost comically. Leiko, obviously at the front, still had the inferno in her eyes, but her mouth stretched into a smile, almost painfully.

"Why, Toshiro," she trilled falsely, "whatever are you standing there for? You should step aside and let us take care of that little thing behind you that's twisting your mind."

Toshiro's face turned to Death Glare Prime.

"Listen here, you little bitch," he spat, seeming pleased at the effect his words had on Leiko, "I don't care if you or your cronies are too shallow to get it through your thick heads, but Momo Hinamori is the girl I care for and if you lay a finger on her I swear I'll throw you to the pits of Tartarus to rot for all of eternity." He glared at her icily as he said this, the conviction in his tone enough to make even me shiver, even though they weren't directed at me.

There was a stunned silence. Leiko's mouth had dropped a millimeter, her one unblackened, open eye glazed and blank. Suddenly, the palpable tension was broken by a masculine yell from the back: "Yeah, Toshiro!" Everyone turned their heads back to see Ichigo with his fist raised, a giant grin on his face. He looked confidently at Toshiro at first, then switched his gaze to stare defiantly at Leiko as if to say, "Got a problem with us, bitch?"

The spell broke. Every non-Leiko supporter within earshot yelled cheers of support, all raising their fists in a salute to Toshiro's words. Leiko sullenly retreated back into her ranks of now-beaten fighters, and their crowd quickly trickled through exit doors. When they were finally gone, I made my way to Toshiro, leaning against his chest and closing my eyes.

"I do believe you've started a revolution." I murmured, sighing as his arms wrapped around my shoulders.

He laughed, something that I loved to hear after all the drama that had just taken place. "I do my best." He replied, the smile in his voice apparent.

Suddenly, Rangiku's head popped up a few inches away from our faces. "WELL," she said, emphasizing the amusement in her voice, "_that_ is what I call good lunchtime entertainment. I should've transferred here earlier; my old schools' is boring compared to this one's!"

Everyone laughed, and Tatsuki piped up, "Yeah, and it's about time Toshiro!" Toshiro's laugh died down, and he looked at Tatsuki, giving her a warning glance.

Nonetheless, the girl carried on valiantly. "Seriously, Momo. I've known Toshiro our entire school life, and for some eleven or twelve years he's ignored every single girl that ever wanted him. Just think, they even liked him when he was six. And finally, some ten thousand girls later, you're the lucky one! Congratulations, Hinamori." She winked at me, raising a juice box as a toast.

Everyone laughed again, and Toshiro joined in despite himself. Just then, the bell rang, and the rowdy crowd dispersed quickly. My friends all said goodbye as they dashed off for class, and Toshiro waited patiently for me as I busted my dishes and collected my books.

We began our walk to class, almost as if it had been any other normal lunch, except we walked a smidgen closer. I grinned at him as we made our way through the halls.

"Just how many girls did you really reject?" I asked, laughter echoing in my voice.

Toshiro shook his head. "Tatsuki wasn't exaggerating. I seriously think it was about ten thousand."

Accepting this fact, I actually did feel pretty special. "Interesting lunch, wasn't it?"

He laughed, the wonderful sound bouncing its way of the walls. "Interesting. That's a good word for it."

Just then, he bumped my shoulder and I winced. He noticed the reaction and gently took my pale arm in his large hands, and scrunched his face in disgust at what he found.

Curious, I looked as well, and promptly decided to look away. A freakishly giant bruise about the size of Toshiro's large handwidth was already forming on my upper arm, the thing almost completely wrapping around the entire limb. It was mottled purple and red, but what really made it smart was several deep gashes that had been made I supposed when Leiko had punched me with her hideous, sharp, gaudy rings. The cuts were oozing a morbidly, terrifyingly lovely shade of crimson, staining the short sleeve of my uniform.

"Sweet Jesus, Momo. You really shouldn't go to class with that arm. I'll leave a note on our way to the infirmary for the teacher, it's just ahead of the classroom." He seemed to be suppressing some sort of reaction, and I merely nodded.

"Y-yeah. I guess I shouldn't. Surprised I didn't notice it till now, though." I answered after a minute.

He shrugged as he scribbled a quick note on the small whiteboard outside our classroom. "You had a lot going on."

We arrived at the nurse's office, and he politely held the door out for me as the beefy nurse approached us, her face an impressive shade of beet red.

"Back again already?! What is it this time, a paper truck dump its load on your head?" she sputtered, obviously remembering the condition in which I'd been in previously.

I shook my head as Toshiro filled out a form for me, rolling up my sleeve to better reveal my injury. "No, I had an…accident with…spiked dodge balls in P.E.?"

The nurse, for some reason, found this not in the least bit unusual. "Tsk! I keep telling everyone that this school doesn't have proper safety requirements. Come here, let me see it." She sat me down on a hard, tall hospital bed and made a quick inspection of the casualty with a touch strangely gentle for hands so meaty.

She shook her head when she finished giving it the one-over. "Several pretty deep cuts, and that bruise is starting to scare me. I'm going to clean it up, but you'll have to take some antibiotics that I'll give you, capiche?" I nodded to answer, smiling up at Toshiro as he came to stand by me.

"What sort of antibiotics, may I ask?" he inquired, genuine interest in his eyes.

The nurse scowled. "Metronidazole, but I doubt you actually know…"

"I understand, thank you very much. Metronidazole will be fine." He cut her off, a perfectly polite tone in his voice.

Muttering something as she cleaned and bandaged my wound, the nurse huffily finished up and handed me a small container with black and orange pills and roughly shoved us out of the infirmary, Toshiro wearing a smug look on his face the entire time.

When we were finally out and making our way to class, I couldn't help but ask. "Since when do you know the meds?" I asked, looking at him and cocking my head to one side.

He laughed at my look and at my question. "My mom's a doctor. You can't help but pick up a thing or two when she idolizes her superior, Unohana or someone, so much."

I smiled. "Oh, Hitsugaya. What ever shall I do with you? Smart, handsome, strong, medically educated…" we had stopped walking, and I mimed fainting as I said this.

He laughed, catching me from behind around the waist as I fake fainted backwards. His touch left a trail of fire on my skin, making me feel giddy.

"That reminds me, I never did properly ask you." He said, pulling me back so I could see his face. The hint of ice that always seemed to be in his eyes melted away, to reveal a warm gaze looking at me as I glanced over my shoulder.

I gulped, almost like a cartoon, leaning more on his strong shoulder and looking ahead. "What's that?"

He buried his nose in my hair, breathing in the scent. He murmured against the curtain, his voice muffled slightly, "Do me the honor of going out with me?"

I laughed. "So formal, Toshiro."

He grinned, leaning his head over my shoulder and looking at me. "Fine, then. Wanna go out with me?"

I laughed again. "Of course, Baka-Toshiro."

He kissed the top of my head. "Thanks."

We laughed at shared each other's presence the rest of the way to class, all the while not noticing a small freshman girl with a tear-streaked, enraged face furiously texting someone on her pink plastic phone.

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Well, there's chappie numero 7! Chp. 8 will be up at 25 reviews =]]] Hope you enjoyed!


	8. Filthy Rings and Green Paste

Sorry for the lull! I've had this unbelievable force called homework keeping me busy. This is a filler chapter of sorts, just something to let y'all know Im still alive and how Hinamori's doing. Chapter 9'll be loaded, I swear ;P

BTW Please check out my new fic! Behind a Camera-- In my profile!!

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The next day started eventfully. I woke up, feeling like I was forgetting something. When yesterday's memories suddenly began to flood back into my mind, I smiled, turned around, and screamed into my pillow, hardly being able to believe what I was remembering. It'd almost seemed like a wonderful yet terrible dream. When my excess happiness was finally vented into my pillow, I got up out of bed groggily, only to gasp and fall right back onto my bed when pain shot up everywhere on my back, legs, arms, stomach, and neck.

I groaned and inspected everywhere that hurt, and winced when I got to the mauled area of my arm. The cut in that particular area had become swollen and throbbed painfully, and yellow pus stained the now-useless bandage, which I threw away. Despite the antibiotics, it along with a few other cuts had still somehow gotten infected. As if that wasn't enough, a beautiful collection of vivid, purple and yellow bruises mottled just about every square inch of my skin, and less severe scratches marked some of them. Leiko may have lost the fight, but she had done her work thoroughly enough that it didn't immediately affect me in the fight, but hurt later on nonetheless. _Damn you and your filthy rings, Leiko._ I thought bitterly as I felt the waves of pain radiating from the infected openings.

I gingerly lay back into bed, and spent the next five minutes or so contemplating what one must do in a situation like this. After exploring several possibilities, I came to one conclusion. I need help. I needed-

"MOM!!"

Mama came scrambling up the stairs, a frightened look on her face. "Momo! What's the matter?"

I had prepared for this. I groaned, something that wasn't too hard to purposely do. "I got pretty beat up yesterday at dodgeball, and now it…well."

Mama didn't say a word. She stared down at my casualties with a mortified look on her face, but quickly recovered. "Oh, honey! You poor baby! Why didn't you tell me when you came home? I wondered why you practically died on the couch yesterday…" she continued to banter as she gently inspected me. Her voice slowly toned down to a dull buzzing in my head as I numbly nodded in agreement to whatever it was she was saying.

Finally, Mama sat up and sighed. "I have an herbal remedy that should take care of the bruises, but those cuts, lord only knows how you managed to get cuts in _dodgeball_, need a bit of cleaning with stronger stuff. I'll call your teacher's to ask if you can skip school today…"

I nodded, laying back down into bed. I managed to slip into a half daydream deep enough to drown out the throbbing of my injuries long enough until Mama returned with a sickly green paste and an annoyed expression on her face. She spoke furiously as she skillfully applied the poultice to my skin, which I gratefully sighed a thank you for in my head. The oozy green stuff sent wave after wave of cool relief as more was applied. "…Really, I can't believe that they won't allow you to stay home today. Some important unmissable assembly or something today. I could call-"

"Mama, it's okay." I cut her off, holding up a sore arm. "I'll manage. This stuff takes care of most of the bruises, so I think I'll just bear it and wait for the weekend to really recover."

Mama pursed her lips and thought for a long while until she finally made up her mind. "Fine, but I want you taking as many nurse excuses as possible. No need for you to faint in class from a sudden loss of blood if all of these cuts suddenly magically reopen."

I nodded and hauled my protesting body out of bed, heading to my bathroom to change and get ready while Mama packed my bags and lunch, muttering incoherent curses under her breath. A half hour later, I was limping my way to school, Mama's warnings still in the distance as she made sure I made it in one piece. It was going to be a long day.

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Aaaand to my eternal shame, that's it. Review and chapter nine will be up very soon! Also, check out my one-shots. For the HHFM competitions. ;DD

Don't forget to check out Behind a Camera! I'm rather proud of the idea...

xD


	9. Blueberries and Bandages

Whooaaa I kinna think this is my favorite chapter so far. Have fun reading, hope you enjoy, and REVIEW!!!

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I limped through the classroom door gratefully, relieved to have finally made it. I handed the teacher a tardy note, and slowly made my way through the aisles to sit by Toshiro, who was staring wide eyed at me.

When I'd sat down and the teacher had resumed his lecture, Toshiro handed me a note.

I glanced down at it to see his intricate handwriting hastily scribbled across the scratch paper. _Sweet Jesus Mother of God, Momo! Why the _hell_ did you come to school like that?_

I looked up and saw him eyeing me worriedly. I smiled at him, trying to look as cheerful as possible. Instead of writing a reply, I merely whispered, "Don't worry about me, Toshiro. I'll be fine. Mama gave me some stuff to make it alright, I'm pretty sure I can make it through today."

Toshiro snorted, unconvinced. Not trusting his voice to retain a whisper, he wrote a note again. _Yeah, right. You skin looks like that girl from Charlie and Chocolate Factory's after she turned into a blueberry._ This time, he'd added a cartoon of a blueberry with its hair in a bun and cloth covering it.

I laughed, grateful that he still had a sense of humor. "I swear, I'm fine!" I whispered, giggling a bit.

Nonetheless, all throughout that day Toshiro stayed by my side like a guard dog. We didn't have the one class we weren't in together today, so he had no reason to leave me. And I was grateful for his protection. All throughout that day, just about every girl we passed in the hall seemed to…to _growl_ at me, though Toshiro would quickly glare back at them. Leiko, thankfully, wasn't at school today, probably to recover. I grinned. I was pretty sure she was in worse shape than I was, even though I hadn't fought with rings equivalent to spiked brass knuckles.

After school, we waved goodbye to everyone as we set off to walk home together. Everyone else was going to an arcade for a fun afternoon, but Toshiro had insisted that after such a wary day of making sure I wasn't attacked, he needed to go home and that I needed to rest. We walked in a comfortable silence, holding hands and swinging them a bit before Toshiro broke the quiet.

"Hey, Momo?" he asked, smirking.

I smiled at him. "Yeah, Toshiro?"

"Would you like to come to my house? I'd like to show you where I live, and I think my mom could help out with those cuts…"

I grinned at him. "I'd really like that, Shiro-chan."

He raised an eyebrow. "Shiro-chan?"

I giggled, not having realized to have said it myself. "Oops! Guess my mind gave you a nickname. Get used to it, cause I just decided that I like it."

He merely smiled, even though I could tell that the name would annoy him later on. Just then, he grinned evilly. "Well, just wait till I come up with a name for you. I bet my mind gets more creative than yours when it comes to making sadistic nicknames."

I laughed. "We'll see, Shiro-chan."

We soon arrived at his house, which had a bountiful garden out front not too different from my house's. I laughed when I saw a peach tree. "Looks like our moms have more in common than we think…"

Toshiro grinned. "Yeah, she planted that after she saw your mom's. Said that peach trees are beautiful and handy at the same time."

I turned around to face him. "Am I beautiful and handy too?" I asked, smirking.

He laughed and kissed me on the forehead, sending my heart racing. "Ten times more than the tree. Funny, too."

We continued to joke about the peach tree as we walked in. Just then, however, I suddenly found myself standing alone as Toshiro was tackled from the side by a pink blur, causing him to fly twenty feet to the left.

I hobbled over as quickly as possible to find my boyfriend furiously wrestling his assaulter, Yachiru, obviously.

" Toshiro brought Momo home! Toshiro brought Momo home! Toshiro brought Momo home! " she chanted as she effortlessly caught his arms in a lock with her legs and patted her hands against his head like a drum.

I laughed as I gently pried the young girl off to allow Toshiro to breathe. She continued chanting as I set her down, running off around the house to find something new to play with. I turned to see Toshiro getting up shakily, rubbing his back as he did so. I limped over and helped him up and supported him until we reached a couch, where we both gratefully plopped down to rest our aching bones.

He laughed when he finally caught his breath. "Stupid me. We probably should've come in through a window with the S.W.A.T. team behind us to get in safely."

I grinned and scooted over and rested my head on his shoulder. "Nah, I'm sure I could just come in through the front door if I have you with me. That way, you can take the hits instead." I joked.

He laughed, readjusting himself so his shoulder was at a lower, more accessible level. "Which I'd gladly take."

I smiled, and we sat like that, sharing each other's warmth until two voices approached us from behind. I turned around to see the delighted face of Toshiro's mother and a woman with two long, graceful black braids draped in front of her following.

Toshiro turned too and smiled. Isane Hitsugaya ran over and hugged us both tightly, which cause us both to wince. "I'm SO glad that you two are together! I could hardly believe Yachiru when she came bursting through the door chanting that little song of hers. I can't wait to tell your father, but he's working a late shift tonight…oh! Momo! Have you told you mother? I can't wait to-"

Toshiro cut her off, standing up and turning to the woman behind his mother and bowing respectfully. "Konnichiwa, Unohana-sempai." I hastily got up and bowed as well, seeing as this woman was obviously important.

The woman, Unohana, smiled kindly at us both but then frowned when she saw my infected cuts and yellowed bruises. "What's your name, young lady?"

I blushed and answered, "Momo Hinamori, ma'am."

She smiled at me. "You've got quite a collection of injuries there, Hinamori."

I blushed. "Dodgeball, ma'am. It's getting rougher on me."

Toshiro cut in. "Unohana-sempai, I was going to ask my mother, but since you're here could you take a look at Momo? A few of the cuts got infected even though she was on antibiotics."

Unohana frowned. "I'd love to help this young lady out with her injuries, but your mother and I have to run to the hospital for an emergency meeting. I brought the special med kit with me today, though. You can borrow that and treat her yourself; goodness knows I've taught you enough over the years that you're capable." She smiled and gestured to a table nearby with a steel box resting on its surface.

Toshiro bowed to her, muttering "Arigato" as his mother waved goodbye and followed her superior out the door to go to the hospital. However, they were closely followed by a hyperactive (isn't she always?) Yachiru, who was excitedly declaring that she wanted to go too. Isane smiled and opened the door for her, her way of saying she could come.

When they were gone, Toshiro took my hand and led me over to the table and sat me down on a dining chair with a plush cushion on top of it. He turned and picked up the kit and set it in front of me, clicking open the mechanism that kept the lid shut. Inside the mysterious container was an impressive array of tubes, gauzes, and other first aid necessities.

Toshiro's eyes widened slightly as he ran his slender fingers over the rows of tubes. "You have no idea how amazing some of these substances are."

I raised an eyebrow. "Then why'd Unohana let you use them for me?"

Toshiro smiled as he picked one up and broke the seal. "They have to be used sometime, but they're too specialized to use commercially at the hospital. So might as well."

I nodded and relaxed into the chair as Toshiro pulled up a chair, leaned forward, and gingerly laid my arm on the table, starting with the most infected cut that was covered in a now-useless bandage.

He at first took off all of the bandages covering my various wounds, gently inspecting each one with skilled, careful hands. He then turned around and selected several tubes, breaking all the seals in one hand. He squeezed one and allowed its contents to cover his finger and then took my arm in his left hand to steady it.

He softly stroked the rare, unmarred skin under my arm with the hand as he smoothly applied the poultice with his other, which sent a cool wave of relief throughout my arm. He then proceeded to apply several other medicines on each finger and gently put each different type on cuts varying in depth and how infected they were. He then took a large tube and pressed a thick, clear cream from it and applied that to each and every bruise. Reaching into the kit, he brought out a large roll of gauze and slowly wrapped the soft linen around whichever cut that needed it, tightly but not so tight as to hurt me. When he was done, he secured the gauze with a sticky variety of it, and repeated the procedure on my other arm. He then roamed his eyes up to my neck and face, where several cuts and bruises demanded attention as well. He took smaller tubes from the box and gently applied their contents on those. The bruises on my legs got more cream from the unusually large tube.

When he was finally done, every one of my limbs felt tingly and relieved after enduring their burdens for so long. He took my right arm in his hands and lowered his head to kiss each bandage and bruise, traveling upward to my neck, my jaw line, my cheeks, my eyelids, and finally my lips. I kissed him back, feeling eternally grateful that he could be so…caring as to help me heal. I boldly deepened the kiss, and he chuckled as my now-tingling arms wrapped around his neck and played with his snowy locks, feeling through the unusual coolness they retained. Finally, we broke apart.

"Thank you, Shiro-chan." I whispered, resting my forehead against his.

"Anytime, Momo. I'll always be here to help you heal from whatever hurts you, if I can't stop it from hurting you in the first place." Was his whispered reply.

"Thank you."

"...."

"Momo?"

"Mmm?"

"I'm sorry."

I looked up at him. "Whatever for?"

"That you got so…hurt. Because of me." He wouldn't meet my gaze.

I caught his face with my hands and turned it so that he had to look at me. "Toshiro, never say that. I'll endure anything to be with you, even every girl that ever fell for you."

He remained quiet for a minute, looking into my eyes. "You really mean that, don't you?"

I grinned. "Of course."

"You really are amazing."

I smiled and raised my head for another kiss.

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Hehe, fluff galore! Hope you enjoyed reading, I had fun writing this chapter. _**AND PLEASE REVIEW!!!!! Its the big green button right below!**_ Also, check out my new multi-chaptered HitsuHina fic, _**Behind a Camera**_!


	10. Blindfolds and Ipods

Yayyy this story's starting to get some more attention! 300, count em, 300 hits in one day! (Those of you who've erad Behind a Camera chp. 4 would know that that also received 300, making it 600 hits!) ABSOLUTELY NO EXCUSE FOR NOT REVIEWING NOW!! MUHAHAHA!

Chapter 10! (Whoo! In the double digits!)

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The rest of the semester passed almost like a dream. I cherished every moment I spent with Toshiro, every second being permanently branded into my memory, for I found that the mere thought of forgetting even a minute of my time with him to be painful.

Toshiro, as it turned out, was really quite a romantic. He left roses in my locker, sometimes with short, sweet notes attached, kissed me between each class in the halls; despite whoever was looking (He once even bravely gave me a peck on the lips in front of Leiko. I paid with a narrow escape from death in the rugby unit in Gym, but the look on her face at the time was worth it.) and took me to movies and carnivals or whatever activity was available every weekend. He'd hold my hand or comfort me if something scared me, he'd let me lean on whatever part of him served as a soft pillow when we watched rented movies at each other's house or did homework together on the floor or couch, he'd let me play with his enticing, soft white hair when we cuddled, and he treated me better than any girl has ever been treated in the history of mankind. Even Rangiku, who'd started going out with Gin, said she was a little jealous. Rukia and Renji had also started going out, but they shared more of an abusive, loving sort of relationship which they both enjoyed.

One day in late December, right before Christmas break was about to start, I decided to have some fun with Toshiro after school. When we left the school's entrance I giggled and tied a handkerchief around his eyes. He laughed and attempted to take it off, but I slapped his groping fingers away and took his hand in mine.

"Follow me." I giggled.

His trust in me was absolute. He never wavered as we made our way through the treacherous streets, counting on me to tell him when there was a curb or object in his way. Soon, we entered the forest that led to my beloved peach grove, and we slowly followed the path, hand in hand, until we found ourselves in the middle of the small opening between the peach trees.

He breathed in deeply and smiled when he recognized the fresh, clean scent of the peach forest. I reached up on my tippy toes and undid the handkerchief that obscured his vision, but instead of merely pulling back, I wrapped my arms around his neck when the blind was off and leaned in and kissed him, rocking side to side as we half-danced, half stood as we kissed.

Suddenly, Toshiro grinned against my lips and curled his hands around my waist and picked me up easily, twirling me around as we mock danced. I laughed, hanging on to his neck tightly as he made me feel like I was flying. He set me down gently and stepped back. I was confused right until he bowed deeply, his voice echoing laughter as he asked, "Care to dance, milady?"

I laughed and curtsied to him, accepting his outstretched hand. He set his big, warm right hand against my waist and took my other hand as I set my own right on his shoulder, and we swept into the first step of the dance. I grinned, exhilaration lighting up my heart, my soul.

I smiled. "All that's missing is the music."

Toshiro seemed to think intently for a second, and then his expression brightened as he released my left hand and dug into his pocket, extracting an iPod Nano. He grinned as he inserted a small white headphone into each of our ears and pressed 'play', taking my hand again. The song 'So Close' by Jon McLaughlin sounded in my ears, and I smiled and leaned against his chest as we continued our dance, in our own little world with our own song, connected by the thin white wire that sounded the beautiful melody and beat as we followed along with our feet.

I listened to his heart and the song as he rested his cheek against the top of my head, and we listened and softly whispered along to McLaughlin's voice as we slowly danced back and forth around the small opening in the trees.

You're in my arms  
And all the world is calm  
The music playing on for only two  
So close together  
And when I'm with you  
So close to feeling alive

A life goes by  
Romantic dreams will stop  
So I bid mine goodbye and never knew  
So close was waiting, waiting here with you  
And now forever I know  
All that I wanted to hold you  
So close

So close to reaching that famous happy end  
Almost believing this was not pretend  
And now you're beside me and look how far we've come  
So far we are so close

How could I face the faceless days  
If I should lose you now?  
We're so close  
To reaching that famous happy end  
And almost believing this was not pretend  
Let's go on dreaming for we know we are  
So close  
So close  
And still so far

[**AN: I highly advise listening to this song, it's my favorite:] Also I thought it fit well with 'music for only two', though I can't say the same for the rest of the song. Oh well! Nice song wtvr.**]

The song ended, and we both sighed as it did. We just stood there for a minute in our embrace, until Toshiro broke the stillness by creeping his hands upward from my waist until they ended up at back of my neck. He gently turned my head so that I faced him and he grinned, bending down to kiss me. I returned the smile and tilted my head up to oblige, and when our lips met I felt every muscle and bone in my body melt. He laughed against my lips as he took my weight, slowly lowering us down until finally he was laying down in the clearing's soft, over-grown grass with me on top. When we broke the kiss, I lay my head against his muscled, well-toned chest, listening to his heart as he lazily stroked my hair and back, his hand a constant motion as it traveled up and down, up and down.

We just lay there, listening to each other's breathing and heartbeats, for what seemed like an eternity. At some point, one of us shifted in a way that made the iPod come to life again, softly and quietly playing the song 'All I Ask of You' from Phantom of the Opera into our ears. Toshiro smiled as the song swelled. I looked up into his brilliant, teal eyes and saw that he really did love this song.

Slowly, Toshiro raised his unoccupied hand and located the small machine and lowered the volume somewhat. I raised my head and gave him a questioning look. He smiled down at me.

"Wanted to make sure you could hear me."

I still remained confused.

He grinned at my lack of understanding. "I was just thinking."

I smiled. "Yeah?"

"Would you like to get everyone together this Christmas and go on a skiing trip? I was thinking that it might be fun, especially if you were there…"

I grinned broadly. "That's an awesome idea, Toshiro. It'd be nice to get away with just everyone at school."

He kissed my forehead. "I thought you'd like it."

Just then, an icy gust of wind blew in from out of nowhere, sending shivers up my spine. I snuggled up into Toshiro's chest for warmth. However, the cold message sent from nature had made him smile widely. I looked up at him and raised an eyebrow.

"You really like winter, don't you?"

He continued to gaze upward, looking through the trees into the darkening sky, where a few stars had twinkled into existence. He smiled as he studied the heavens.

"Actually, I really _love_ winter. I've always felt this…attraction to the beauty of ice and snow, and I've always loved the cold. Don't ask me why, but it's just this feeling I've had my entire life."

I laughed. "Your taste in weather matches your hair, Shiro-chan."

He laughed and kissed my hair. "I guess it does, doesn't it?" He looked down at me, his turquoise eyes sparkling.

"It really does. I'm looking forward to spending a winter with you, Shiro-chan." I kissed his neck, traveling along his collar bone and then his jaw line as I said this.

He hummed in pleasure and looked back up at the starry sky. "So am I, Momo. So am I."

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Ski Trip! Yayyyyy. More fluff for fluffy masochists, yeah yeah I know you guys love me. And as it is now becoming my customary signature: _**REVIEW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!**_. Best listen to the bold, my friend.

**BY THE WAY: Here's a link to the song if you wanna listen ;P : ****.com/watch?v=FH8WAoRL1xo**

**.com/people/moKG-x/music/OQTtW4sh/jon_mclaughlin_so_close/**


	11. Apologies, from Me

Author note (Please don't kill me for it not being a chapter, but it's necessary)

Dear Reader:

As you might have noticed, I haven't updated lately. This would be for two reasons: The first being that I just had my all finals which ended today (YES!) and I can now write this because I have time to do something other than study and eat while buried in notes and books. (Sleep not in there because…I didn't get a lot of it)

Second reason is more serious. My grandfather has recently been diagnosed with lung cancer, which has spread to his brain, and I'm more than a little stressed. This Christmas my family and I will be flying over to the US to spend it with him and my family there, and although I probably will update more often, maybe every 1-3 days, please excuse any poor writing or angstyness. I'll try for fluffy as possible tho. : ) Also sorry for posting this on both of my multi-chaptered stories, but some people only keep track of one and it was also necessary.

Sorry for this not being a chapter, just me letting you all know I'm still writing, just a little delayed and maybe a little angsty.

Thanks to all my readers who've stuck with me. =]

Love and Merry Christmas, Hannukah, Qwanza, and New Years

Larkin


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